Pruning-shears.



No. 835,791. PATE-NTED NOV. 13, 1906.

V. W. KELLY.

PRUNING SHEARS.

APPLIUATION FILED mum, 1906.

WlTNESSES.-' INVENTOR. %.c.%/z2: KW AIM @WWfli ZQ UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

PRUNlNG-SHEARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 13, 1906.

Application filed March 7, 1906. Serial No. 304,792.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VANRENSELAER WV. KELLY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPruning-Shears; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to pruning or fruit shears, and has specialreference to improvements in the construction of the shears describedand claimed in the Letters Patent granted to me March 16, 1897, No.579,093. During the practical and continued application of the shearscovered by my said former Letters Patent to the use for which they areintended it has been found necessary to improve upon several features ofthe construc tion thereof in order to render the tool commerciallypractical and prolong its life.

The object of my invention is the provision of a pair of shears of thisclass which is strong and durable in its construction and designed toovercome the objections and weak features incident to said oldconstruction, as will be hereinafter more fully described and finallyclaimed.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a side elevation of the shears in open position; Fig. 2, asimilar view thereof in closed position with the supplemental jawsgripping a twig. Fig. 3 is a top view of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is aperspective view of the tension-spring which coacts with the upper sideof the lever of the movable supplemental jaw.

Referring to the drawings, A represents an ordinary pair of pruning orfruit shears such as are employed for severing small twigs or cuttingoff the stems of flowers or fruit and which have their relativelymovable parts a and I) connected by the pivot or pin 0.

Carried at the outer side of the part a of the shears are thesupplemental jaws (Z and e, the former of which is mounted for pivotalmovement on the pivot 0, while the latter is fixed to the side of theadjacent shear-blade. This latter jaw has its gripping edge flush withthe side of the shear-blade of the part a, with its gripping-siu'face inthe plane of the cutting edge of such blade and in the plane of movementof the jaw d and has its rear portion offset or stepped from the side ofsaid blade, as shown at e and disposedto cross the outer side of the jawd at its pivotal point. This offset portion is provided with a threadedaperture for receiving the end of the fulcrum pin or pivot c and has itsrear end rigidly attached to the shear-blade by a pin f andspacing-collar g, as shown. By this construction of the aw e I provideboth a shoulder or surface on the contiguous shear-blade for receivingthe thrust of the companion jaw d and a broadened bearingsurface for thefulcrum-pin 0, thus making a more rigid and durable tool.

The jaw d is provided with a lever h, which extends rearwardly betweenthe handles of the shear parts and is formed at its rear end with adownwardly-projecting lip or hook h.. Projecting from the inner sides ofthe handles of the shear parts are the lugs or ears 7) j, to which areattached the rear ends of the tension-springs is Z. These springs havetheir forward ends coacting, respectively, with the lower and uppersides of the lever h in a manner adapted to cause the pressure ortension of the former to overcome that of the latter spring, so that thejaw at will remain fixed relative to the shear part 1) during a closingmovement of such part and until the jaw coacts either with its companionjaw e or an object placed therebetween, when the spring 7c will give toallow the part b to finish its stroke independently of the jaw d. Thesprings is Z are each formed of a single piece of wire bent centrallyupon itself and having its ends passed on opposite sides of theassociated ear i and formed with transversely-registering loops m forreceiving the ends of a pin n, carried by said ear, from which point thespringterminals extend laterally and forwardly to form the bearing-feet0 for contact with the handles of the shears, as shown. The forward endof the spring Z is bent at an angle to its major portion, as shown at Z,to form wings to guide its sliding movement on the back or upper edge ofthe lever, while the spring is made straight at its forward end and isof suitable length for the loop at such end to normally engage the lipor hook it and limit the opening movement of the jaw (1 relative to thepart b of the shears, substantially as shown in Fig. 1. This lip or hookalso prevents a displacement of the spring la from engagement with thelever. The springs 7c and Zmay either be of unequal tension or havecontact with the lever h at different distances from its fulcrum,whereby in either instance to cause the leverage applied thereto by thespring k to be greater than that of the opposing spring Z. After longexperimenting and tests with the difi'erent forms of springs theconstruction of the springs shown is found to be the most practicableand durable and to materially enhance the commercial value of the tool.

10 represents a link which is carried by the pivot of one of the ears iand adapted to be swung into position to engage a lug or spur r on theother of said ears for the purpose of locking the parts of the shearstogether when in closed position, as shown by dotted lines in i Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a pair of shears and the pivot connecting them,of a pair of supplemental jaws carried by one part of the shears, onejaw being movable relative to the shear parts and having a lever end,and the other jaw being fixed to the shear part to which it is attachedand having its gripping end flush with the side of such part anddisposed in the plane of movement of the other jaw and its rear portionoifset or stepped from the side of such part and formed with an apertureto receive one end of said pivot whereby to broaden its bearings, andyielding means carried by the shear-handles and hearing with unequaltension against opposite edges of the lever end of the movable, jaw.

2. The combination with a pair of shears and their pivot, of agripping-jaw carried by said pivot and having a rearwardly-extendingpart, a companion gripping-j aw fixed to the side of the shear partcontiguous to the other jaw and having a part offset and forming abearing for the pivot at the side of the jaw carried thereby, andsprings carried by the shear-handles and coacting with opposite sides ofthe said extended jaw art whereby to cause une ual leverage to e appliedto the connecte jaw in opposite directions, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a pair of shears and their pivot, ofsupplemental grippingjaws carried by said pivot, one jaw being movablerelative to both shear parts and having a rearward extension and theother jaw being fixed to the side of the contiguous shear part andhaving a portion disposed in position to coact with the movable jaw anda portion disposed at the side of said movable j a'w to normallymaintain it in one position relative to the shear part farthesttherefrom, a spring coacting with the extension of the movable jaw tonormally maintain it in one position relative to the shear part farthesttherefrom, and a spring coacting with the opposite side of the extensionfor imparting a less leverage thereto than that imparted by the firstspring.

4. The combination with a pair of shears, of a gripping-j aw pivotedthereto and having a rearward extension formed at its rear end with ahook, a part coacting with said jaw to grip an object, and springs forapplying unequal leverage to opposite sides of said rearward extension,one of said springs being positioned to normally engage said hookwhereby to limit the movement of the jaw in one direction relative tothe shears.

5. The combination with a pair of shears,

of a gripping-j aw pivoted thereto and having a rearward extensionformed with an angle part, a part coacting with the jaw to grip anobject, and spring members secured to the shear-handles and having theirfree ends riding on opposite sides of the j aw extension and tensionedto normally retain the jaw in one position relative to the handles, oneof said springs having its free end positioned to normally coact withthe angled part of the extension whereby to limit the opening movementof the j aw.

6. The combination with a pair of shears and the movable gripping fingercarried thereby of the tension-springs for controlling the movement ofsaid finger, said springs each being formed of a single piece of wirebent centrally upon itself with its ends formed with transverselyalining bearing-loops and terminating in feet projecting forwardly fromthe loops and at an angle to the major portion of the spring.

7. The combination with a air of shears, and the movable gripping fingercarried thereby, of an ear projecting inwardly from each shear-handleand having transverse pivots projecting oppositely therefrom, andsprings extending from opposite sides of the finger to said ears, saidsprings each being formed of a single piece of material bent centrallyupon itself with its looped end in sliding contact with the fingerandits end terminals passed on opposite sides of the associated ear andlooped around the pivots thereon, thence extending forwardly to formfeet for bearing against the contiguous shear handle.

8. The combination with a pair of shears, of a gripping-jaw pivoted toone member thereof and having a rearward extension formed with a hook,spring members carried by the shear-handle and coacting with saidrearward extension whereby to apply unequal tension to opposite sidesthereof, one of said spring members having its free end in slidingcontact with said extension and formed with a loop for contact with thehook on said extension to limit the movement of the jaw relative to oneof the shear parts.

9. The combination with a pair of shears,

of a gripping-j aw pivoted thereto and having a rearward extensionformed at its end with a hook, springs secured to the shear-handles andadapted to impart unequal leverage tension to said extension, said sprins each being formed with looped ends in siding contact with saidextension and the loop of one spring having engagement with theextension-hook to normally maintain the gripping- 1 jaw in one positionrelative to the handle 1- carrying such. hook-engaging spring.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

VANRENSELAER W. KELLY. Witnesses:

CORNELL SOHREIBER, C. W. OWEN.

